//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Theory and Practice // Story: I Don't Need Magic // by Undome Tinwe //------------------------------// "Hey, Twilight," Sunset said with a yawn as she opened the door. "Didn't expect you here so early." "I was having trouble sleeping, so I figured we could just start early." Twilight was dressed in a crisp, formal blouse and a long, slightly wrinkled skirt. Sunset noted the signs of strain around her eyes and the haphazard way that her hair wrapped into a bun. "Did I wake you up?" "No, I just got up a little while ago," Sunset replied, letting her in. "Have you had breakfast yet?" "I grabbed something on the way here. So, are you ready to start?" Twilight tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for an answer from Sunset. Sunset shrugged. "Yeah. I figure the first thing to do would be to try and figure out how well we can predict the emissions from magic. I've done some work on reconstructing the spellform, but figuring out how much detail we need should be a priority." "Sounds about right. Should we go to your lab now?" "Sure. Let me just get changed." A few minutes later, they stepped into the lab once again. "So, how do you want to do this?" Sunset asked. "I dug out all my old notes on magic," Twilight said, placing her briefcase down on one of the tables and opening it up to reveal a neat stack of papers. "It's been a while, though, so I'll need some time to refresh my knowledge. I figure we should go over it together to see if you have any insights." "Sure." Sunset pulled up a couple chairs for them to sit on, as well as some notebooks and pens for taking notes. "Care to tell me how it all works?" "Well, let's start with the electromagnetic spectrum," Twilight said, her tone going into lecture mode. "It's the easiest to measure and, according to you, the production of EM radiation from magic back in Equestria was well-studied." Sunset nodded, casting her mind back to that particular conversation. "I gave you the model that we use for EM phenomena back in Equestria. Mac Swell's six equations." "And in this world, there are only four equations. The other two govern the production of EM waves as a result of the aether. By folding those two equations into the other four, I was able to determine the general form of the equations governing the production of EM waves in the absence of the aether." Twilight pulled a few sheets of paper from the stack and showed them to Sunset. It was filled with equations and symbols, showing an elegant rederivation of Mac Swell's equations with the constraints of the aether removed. Sunset read through the paper, looking for any mistakes and not finding any. "This looks right. Reintroducing the aether gives you back the original equations, and it passes all the standard sanity checks." "Solving the equations should be easy," Twilight said. "But we'll need reasonable initial or boundary conditions as well as an expression for the excitation function, which is why I need some details on the spellform used to cast the spell." "What aspects of the spell do you need?" Sunset asked, looking at the final equations once again. "I'm not sure. I don't know what aspects of the spell contribute to the excitation function, and I don't know what aspects of the excitation function contribute to the solution of the equations." Twilight glanced at Sunset. "That's where I'll need your help." "Sure. I think I have some ideas about how to do this. For the excitation function, have you considered looking in..." Sunset spent the next few minutes going over some principles of advanced thaumaturgy as well as her own ideas about how to apply them to the problem as Twilight listened intently, taking notes and asking questions to clarify points as needed. For the rest of the morning, they worked on a consistent framework for the generation of EM waves from magic. Unfortunately, preliminary analysis showed that tracking magic by measuring EM waves only worked with very short distances or very large expenditures of magic, neither of which allowed for making a proactive tracker. In other words, the only way to pinpoint a source of magic using this method would be if they were in the same room as it, in which case they could just see the light the magic source was emitting, or if it was producing enough energy to light up the sky, like during the fight with the Sirens, in which case it would probably be too late to stop whatever was happening. Still, they'd managed to leverage the equations to produce a method for determining magical signatures given EM emissions. As they settled back into that familiar rhythm that she'd once had with Twilight, Sunset couldn't help but be reminded of how she and Twilight used to work together. Memories of staying up late in Twilight's room washed over Sunset as she worked, images of the two of them poring over whiteboards filled with equations, half-eaten boxes of pizza stacked neatly in a corner, and endless reams of readouts everywhere rising back up to the forefront of her brain. From the occasional distance in Twilight's eyes, Sunset suspected that she wasn't the only one trapped in limbo between now and then. Twilight's earlier hostility and sadness had all but faded, with the scientist having submerged herself completely into her research. Sunset kept finding herself glancing at her reluctant partner, and noting the intensity in her expression. She really was beautiful like that, when she threw her heart and soul into something. It made her look alive and radiant, and reminded Sunset of the Twilight she had once known, the pretty, curious teenager so filled with wonder and a desire to make sense of the world. As noon rolled around, Sunset found another base desire attacking her concentration. "I think it's a good time for lunch." Twilight paused in the middle of drawing a diagram of the different modes of propagation of thaumo-magnetic waves. "Is it?" She looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking again. "I guess I'm a bit hungry. What time is it?" "A little after twelve." "Alright, I suppose this is a good a time as any to stop." "So, what do you want to eat?" Twilight shrugged. "I don't know what's around here anymore, so you decide. Just, not another restaurant where the prices are so high that they don't show up on the menu. That'd be nice." Sunset pouted. "I don't know what you have against good food." Her earlier thoughts came back to her and an idea sparked in her mind. "Hey, how about we order in from Deep Dishes?" A small smile tugged at Twilight's lips. "They're still around?" "Yup. And they're still making great pizza. Should I ask them to deliver?" The lure of Twilight's former favorite pizza place was too much to resist, it seemed, as she eagerly gave her reply. "Yes, please." Eating cheap, greasy pizza in a penthouse suite on a table that probably cost more than one of her grad students made in a year was a novel experience for Twilight Sparkle. On the one hand, the pizza was delicious; Deep Dishes' pizzas had the perfect balance of crust, cheese, tomato sauce, toppings, and grease, making each artery-clogging bite a hearty, satisfying slice of heaven. On the other hand, the contrast between the food she was eating and the place she was eating it in only served to highlight just how opulent Sunset's home was. The dining table and chairs were beautifully carved from very expensive-looking mahogany, and the silverware she was using seemed to be made of actual silver. The walls were lined with old Renaissance paintings that Twilight suspected were originals. Curtains that looked like they were woven with golden threads framed a large window on one side of the room that gave a breathtaking view of the city and the skies. And yet, despite the extravagance, it didn't look tacky or gaudy. The decor tied together very well to create an elegant look; in fact, if there was one word Twilight would use to describe the penthouse, it would be "regal." She felt like she was sitting in the dining room of a queen. "You've gone awfully silent all of a sudden." Sunset's voice dragged Twilight from her thoughts. "Something on your mind?" Twilight looked up at Sunset, who was wolfing down a slice of mushroom pizza like a starving lion, her cheeks stained with tomato sauce, a stark contrast to how composed and refined she had acted in the past couple days. "I was just admiring the decor in this place. You have a beautiful home." "Thanks," Sunset replied. "I tried my best to make it as much of a home for me as I could. Cost a fortune, but I think it's worth it." "I can imagine," Twilight said, taking another look at the room. "Or actually, I probably can't. The amount of money that would be needed to get a place like this is a little beyond my experience. You've done well for yourself." "I guess." Sunset's eyes looked like they were weighted down as she stared at her plate with a frown. "It was never about the money though. Not exactly." "What was it about, then?" "It doesn't matter now." Sunset waved the question away with a flick of her wrist. "Let's just finish eating." The next few seconds were spent in silence as they finished up the last few bites of the pizza. "ready to get back to the lab?" Sunset asked as she collected the dishes and placed them in the sink. "Yes," Twilight replied, mentally berating herself for nearly jumping out of her seat in her excitement. Trying to work out the equations governing magic in this world was a unique challenge: one part regular physics, one part learning new types of math, and one part falling down rabbit holes. The entire morning had been a wonderful experience despite, or because of, Sunset's presence, and now she couldn't wait to get back to work. It wasn't surprising, of course; Twilight remembered just how excited she was to study magic all those years ago, and how well she and Sunset had worked together. She'd known how easy it would be for her to be sucked back into the wondrous and dangerous would of magic again, and she'd known herself well enough to understand the temptations working with Sunset would expose her to. She just had to continually remind herself of everything Sunset had done to her and what would come of getting too close to the former mage. "Alright, let's go." Sunset headed towards the door, Twilight following close behind. "So, what do you plan to do with the method for converting spell structures to excitation functions?" "Well, since the primary purpose of this analysis is to measure magical signatures, we'll need to code up something to solve the modified EM equations to extract the signatures. Then we'll need to test it on some actual magic, like an artifact from the vault. Once we have that system working and once you figure out the necessary components of the spellform used on the camera, we can tune our system to it and check it against all known sources of magic we have to see if we can get any clues. A partial signature match, perhaps." "And if that doesn't work? I mean, what're the chances that we happen to have something from the same source of magic they used on hand?" "That's when we start looking at other emissions," Twilight replied. "Lower frequency EM waves don't attenuate as much, so we might be able to use a radio receiver to look for magic. I also haven't shown you my other work yet on pressure waves and thermal energy. Of course, the main issue is that unless a spell is being actively cast, we still won't be able to track it that well, since ambient magical energy attenuates very quickly." "We can check those out later, I guess." At this point, they had reached the lab, Sunset and Twilight returning to face the whiteboard and continue where they'd left off. "So, about the substructure expression. I think you might be missing an additive constant here..." Within the next hour, they had finished a crude model that they'd agreed would work for what they needed. The next step was implementation, which was something Twilight could do on her own, so Sunset decided to continue working on deciphering the spell used on the camera. As a result, the next few hours passed by in relative silence, save for the occasional question from Twilight about some nuance of magical theory or other. Otherwise, they each worked on their own thing, though Twilight couldn't help but glance up at Sunset a few times as she drew a mind-numbingly complex arcane circle on the whiteboard filled with symbols Twilight had never seen before. Despite her attempts to focus on the board, her eyes found themselves constantly cutting to Sunset's figure, riveted by the way the movements of her body across the board accentuated her curves. Twilight suppressed a flare of jealousy at her; it wasn't her fault that she happened to be beautiful on top of rich and successful. Still, it was almost hypnotic, her graceful movements back and forth along the white background. "Twilight, you okay? You look like you zoned out there for a second." Twilight started as she noticed Sunset looking at her from over her shoulder, a concerned frown on her face. "O-oh, yeah, sorry," she stammered. "Got lost in my thoughts a bit. You know how it is." Sunset nodded and went back to her work, and Twilight breathed a small sigh of relief. She spent the rest of the afternoon focused on her work, not allowing herself to give in to the temptation to stare at Sunset again. As the afternoon drew to a close, Twilight spoke up once more to Sunset. "I'm done programming the numerical solver for the signature extraction. The simulation results appear to match the model predictions." "That's great," Sunset said, smiling as she finished up another rune before she turned to face Twilight. "Do you want to test it on an actual spell now?" "That would be the next logical step." Twilight tried to contain a flash of panic as she spoke. With how caught up she had been in the theory, it had slipped her mind that they'd have to actually cast a spell to test her system. Twilight felt her heart begin to race as Sunset walked over to the safe and opened it up. "I don't have your necklace here, so I'll use mine and you can measure me casting a spell." "That'll be fine." Relief flooding her veins, Twilight walked over to the safe where Sunset was putting on her necklace. "Alright, how do you want to set this up?" Sunset looked at Twilight expectantly, seemingly not noticing her earlier discomfort. "Hmm... let's get the Spectrum Analyzer set up first. Can you walk me through how it works? I haven't used this model before." Twilight's heart slowed back to its normal pace as she studied the complex marvel of technology in front of her. "Sure." For the next few minutes, Sunset taught Twilight how to use the state-of-the-art machine, and after they'd set it up and done initial calibrations, it was time for the real test. "Okay," Twilight said as she sat in front of the computer interface, watching the output of the analyzer. "Place your hand in the box and cast an illumination spell." Sunset did as she was told, inserting her hand into a lead-shielded box filled with optical sensors. Her pendant and arm began glowing, and a moment later her screen began filling up with data. Twilight scanned through the output of the Spectrum Analyzer as well as her own real-time analysis of the output data, looking to see how accurate it was. Meanwhile, she felt a chill creeping up her spine as she watched Sunset casting magic just a few feet away from her. Fighting back memories of the last few times she had seen Sunset cast magic, she returned her focus to the display, watching as a waveform of some sort slowly began to form on one screen. On another, the numerical solver was attempting to produce a rendering of the magical signature using Equestrian Swirl notation, a series of spiral runes appearing amidst a backdrop of code. A minute later, she called out to Sunset. "Okay, you can stop now." The glow around Sunset faded as she withdrew her hand from the sensor box, and Twilight felt herself release a breath she didn't she'd been holding. "So, did you get anything?" Twilight shook her head, turning her screen so that Sunset could see it. "Not unless the magical signature looks like this." "Hmm... that's definitely not right," Sunset said. "Not even close. Although, it looks like it's at least forming partitions around where they should be." "I'll need to go over the code again to see if there were any mistakes." Twilight could already feel the headache coming on at the thought of having to debug code. Where were her grad students when she needed them? "Should I cast more spells to give you more data to work with?" Sunset offered helpfully. "Sure, why not? More data is always useful." Twilight saved the data to her computer and prepped the system for another round of data collection. They only ran two more tests with two different spells, as Sunset was worried about using up all the power in the pendant. She also performed one trial with the Alicorn Amulet, but very quickly took it off afterwards when she claimed to be hearing voices in her head. Twilight stifled a yawn as she glanced at the clock. "It's getting late. I'm going to head back to the hotel and see if I can find the error in the code." "Do you want to grab dinner together first?" Sunset asked, a hopeful tone in her voice. "No, I'll just get something quick on my way back," Twilight replied, packing up her things. "It'll be more efficient that way." She also needed some time away from Sunset to collect her thoughts. "I'll send you back up then." Twilight followed Sunset out of the lab and back to the elevator. As the elevator doors opened up back on the first floor, Twilight stepped out, turning around to face Sunset. "Bye, Sunset, I'll see you tomorrow." "Bye, Twilight. Have a safe trip back to the hotel." The doors slowly closed, and soon Twilight found herself alone in the elevator room. She walked back out to the parking lot and drove back to the hotel room, preparing for a long, unpleasant night of debugging. "Why the hell won't it work?" Twilight's frustrated scream echoed through the lab. Sunset turned to look at Twilight over her shoulder. "What's wrong?" she asked, trying to decide whether it was worth redirecting the scientist's ire to try and help. Twilight had been mostly silent all day since she'd come into the lab in the morning and told her that she hadn't made any progress. The only sounds out of her since then were the occasional grunts of annoyance as whatever she was working on failed once again. "Nothing works!" Twilight rubbed her temples with both hands. "I've gone through every single line of code and none of it is working incorrectly. I've verified that every function is implementing the correct equation, and the simulation results still give me the correct values! And I just checked that the noise filtering is working as intended. But I'm still getting nonsense results for the substructures. It doesn't make any sense!" Sunset recognized the increasing hysteria in Twilight's tone. "Twilight, calm down. You're losing focus. Why don't you take a short break?" "No, I'm so close to a breakthrough," Twilight muttered as she continued to scan through her code. "I can feel it." Sunset placed a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "You know as well as I do that it's just your brain being fixated on the problem. You can't deny the benefits that a break to clear your thoughts will have." This wasn't the first time she'd seen Twilight like this, and the best way to deal with her was to use cold hard facts, of course. Twilight sighed. "You're right." Sunset smiled. "Of course I am. Now, c'mon, let's go." She tugged playfully at Twilight until the disgruntled woman stood up. Sunset grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the lab's exit. "Where are we going?" Twilight asked grumpily as she wore the most adorable pout on her face. "Somewhere fun," Sunset replied, wracking her brain for an appropriate place to de-stress. Normally she'd hit up Rarity for a spa date, but given Twilight's behavior at De Savoir, Sunset was pretty sure that she wouldn't be able to relax around their old friends. That knocked out visiting Fluttershy at the shelter as well. She supposed they could go to the museum, but that wasn't necessarily the best way to get Twilight's mind off academic questions. It would be good to get her outside, though. Fresh air was good for clearing the mind. Canterlot Park? Nah, too boring, and Twilight wasn't much of a botanist. There had to be something else outdoors they could do... Sunset smiled as the perfect idea hit her.